“In here,” Jett called, still looking at me.

Her little heels clacked against the floor, but she halted when she saw Jett and me staring each other down. I glanced at her and saw her heated gaze peruse my body. Even though I was still half drunk, I appreciated her appraisal of my body.

“Get a good look?” I asked, swaying a little.

“You look like a turd nugget,” she responded.

“Hottest turd nugget in town,” I replied, stretching my arms above my head, knowing fully well that my towel hung low. Too bad I still had my briefs on, or else I could have possibly put on a very good show for both Jett and Goldie.

Shit, I really was still drunk.

“I will take those,” Jett said to Goldie. “Go hang out with Diego. I won’t be much longer.”

“No,” she said defiantly. “I want an explanation.”

“An explanation of what?” I asked. I walked past them and back into my room. Normally, I would have flopped on my bed, but since that was deconstructed, I sat on the edge of the dresser that was lying flat on the ground.

Goldie and Jett followed and stood in front of me, waiting for me to say something.

“What?” I asked, rubbing my face, wishing I had a bottle of valium at my disposal.

“What the fuck did you do to Lyla?” Goldie asked, her temper rising.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, my pulse picking up from the mention of Lyla’s name.

“She is walking around like someone sucked the life out of her,” Goldie responded, hands on her hips and ready to fight.

She was five foot nothing, hence Jett’s nickname for her, and had zero meat on her bones, but I didn’t doubt her ability to put up a good fight.

“I bet she’s fine,” I responded, feeling more gutted than ever from hearing about Lyla. The person who’d sucked the life out of her was me. Another soul I was able to damage.

“She’s not fine, Kace. She won’t talk to me about what happened, so you better start speaking.”

“We fucked. Then I left,” I breathed out, skipping over all the intimate details and moments we’d shared.

“I don’t believe you,” Goldie responded.

“You don’t?” I grabbed the back of my neck. “Check my wallet. You will find one less condom.”

Stomping her foot like a child, she said, “No, I don’t believe that’s all that happened.”

“Come on, it’s not worth it,” Jett said to Goldie, pulling her into him.

“I’m so sick of dealing with his evasiveness. It’s about time you got over yourself, Kace. It’s tiresome being friends with someone who thinks the world is going to end any day.”

“Glad you finally realized we shouldn’t be friends,” I replied, really wishing she would leave me alone.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Yup,” I said, resting my head on the wall.

“Let’s go,” Jett encouraged her.

“This is so stupid. Why do we have to walk on eggshells around him? What the fuck does summer have to do with anything?”

Like a fucking semi careening into a wall, realization slammed into my chest. “Holy fuck, what’s today?” I asked, looking up at Jett.

The sad look on Jett’s face confirmed my thoughts.

It was Madeline’s birthday, and I’d fucking forgotten. I’d been so caught up in drowning my sorrows I’d forgotten it was her birthday.

“What’s today?” Goldie asked, looking at both of us. “What the hell is going on?”

“I need to leave,” I replied, grabbing jeans and a T-shirt off the floor.

“Sober up first,” Jett said, tossing the water and bread at me. “Then you can go. Being half drunk won’t help.”

Even though I wanted nothing more than to leave, Jett was right. In order for me to take care of business, I needed to be sober, so I grabbed the water and bread and forced it down.

Chapter Eighteen

My past…

“It’s about time,” I said to Jett as he met me at the base of the stairs nestled in the servants’ quarters at the Lafayette Club.

“I had some business to attend to,” he said, buttoning the front of his suit jacket. He gripped my shoulder and looked me in the eye. “You don’t have to do this, Kace.”

It was the conversation we had every time I wanted to do something that dealt with the loss of Marshall Duncan. Jett always gripped my shoulder and told me I didn’t have to do what I had planned, and I always countered him. I didn’t foresee the interaction changing in the near future.

“I do,” I said, leading him out the back door.

We were headed to the garage when we were stopped by a whistle from one of the girls. I turned to see the Jett Girls tanning in the backyard, topless of course, drinking margaritas and gossiping. It was their day off and they were taking advantage of it. I averted my eyes from their breasts and continued forward.

There were four Jett Girls now: Babs, Pepper, Tootse, and Francy. They’d all been found by Jett and invited to the club to change their current way of living. Tootse and Francy were a couple—annoyingly cute to see together, actually. Jett had found them at a local X-rated club, where they used to make out topless in front of a bunch of horny men. Francy was a fucking fantastic bartender and Tootse had been taking fashion classes and was a pretty good seamstress. Once Jett had found out about Tootse’s talents, he’d put her to work on some costumes for the girls. I was pretty impressed with her hidden talent.

Pepper, on the other hand, was a tough one. She had a serious dark side that rivaled mine at times. I could see it in her eyes, the damage that had been done. The only information I’d gotten from Jett about Pepper was he was able to pay off her pimp to help her come to the Lafayette Club. I didn’t want to know how much Jett had paid. All I knew was Jett had saved her from an atrocious position she hadn’t put herself in.

Surprisingly, all the girls got along. That had been one of my biggest fears when stepping into my position at the club—that there was going to be a lot of catty bullshit from the girls—but it was an unspoken rule they didn’t fight with each other. Instead, they supported one another. They all came from a rough background and with that knowledge, they formed an unbreakable bond.

On occasion they gave me sass. They most definitely pushed my buttons, but then again, I think they found pleasure in such interaction. But they knew my boundaries and never crossed the line. They didn’t ask about my personal life. They knew I had demons and they left me alone.

At first, I thought Jett’s plan to help save these girls was a little far-fetched, maybe a little disturbed, but I got it now. I saw what the club was able to provide them: a safe sanctuary from the sins that once clung to their skin every day. Now they were able to thrive, to make something of themselves. It was refreshing to see their change in demeanor, to see hope in their eyes. If only the club had had the same effect on me.

 “Where you going, boss man?” Babs called out, directing her comment to me, even though I wasn’t technically their boss, just their manager.

“None of your business,” I shot back. They knew better than to ask about my daily routine. Unless we were in the Toulouse Room practicing or in the gym working out, they didn’t talk to me. This wasn’t because I was a dick. It was because I had nothing to say to them.

The girls giggled from my short answer and made scary noises, making fun of me.

“How do you deal with his moodiness?” Francy asked Jett, who was trailing behind me.

“Bourbon,” Jett answered. “Lots of fucking bourbon.”

“Fuck you.” I chuckled.

“We’ll miss you,” Tootse said. She wiggled her fingers at us. I shook my head at the biggest blonde in the house. She could be really dense at times. Thank God she was pretty.

I slipped into Jett’s black Range Rover and settled behind the wheel. Jett quickly sat in the passenger side and shut his door, silencing the catcalls the girls were giving both of us.